12 Days

Day 9: The Flavors of Christmas.. Eggnog /  by George Geary

Eggnog! I purchase the liquid gold from the only dairy left in Los Angeles. At one point LA has 22 dairies with cows.. Now only one is left with the cows outside of the city limits. Today I conducted my Holiday Flower Market Tour from San Diego.. One of our stops we savored the eggnog! Its a difficult product to get outside of the LA area.. But here is the information.. Broguiere Dairy in Montebello. 323-726-0524. Its teh fourth generation French family that produces many milk products.

 

Todays recipes are eggnog cookies and eggnog cheesecake.  Enjoy!

EggNog Cookies 

EggNog Cheesecake

Day 7: The Flavors of Christmas... Butter /  by George Geary

Butter.

Yes... a flavor! I have created a Hot Butter Rum Drink and also a French Butter Cookie that is so light! Enjoy! I think you will love these recipes. 

Salt vs Unsalted butter. First I kid and say I used unsalted because I am worried about your health. Really do you know how much salt is in butter? I don't either.. So I use unsalted so I can use the amount of salt I feel is best. Also, salted butter last longer so grocery stores can keep it on the shelve longer. 

Hot Buttered Rum

French Butter Cookies. 

Day 6: The Flavors of Christmas…. Vanilla! /  by George Geary

Vanilla...

Only second in line to Chocolate.. (Notice how this entire 12 days started with Chocolate?). I have enclosed a simple custard recipe. Also, I want everyone to make their own vanilla extract. I have attached a few pages on facts of this only edible orchid plant and some stories of the vanilla regions I have been fortunate to tour and visit.

Also, if you make your own vanilla, you need the perfect bottles! I have found them and below is the link for those. And a great price! 

Tomorrows flavor is...Butter! And I just purchased 5 pounds of european butter today! 

Here is the link to the Hibiscus Holiday Show I did for SD Living: LINK

Vanilla Facts Vanilla Extract Vanilla Custards

6 beautiful bottles! You will want to start making my Limonchello (recipe on this blog).

Day 4: The Flavors of Christmas… Peppermint /  by George Geary

Peppermint.. The flavor alone reminds you of Christmas.. The candy cane would not be any other flavor! It has to be peppermint.. I see some are on the shelves this season are hot sauce flavored.. Not for me!

Here are two recipes for today.

Peppermint Brownies

Candy Cane MilkShake

 

Also here is a link for paper straws.. The Old Fashion feel of the paper straw will take you back to a simpler time. 

Tomorrows Flavor is...Hibiscus! 

Day 2: The Flavors of Christmas… Cinnamon /  by George Geary

Cinnamon...

Just the word makes you think... Christmas! It does me! Here you will find two recipes for cinnamon. Hard Candies that are simple to make.. Also, a drink I featured on SD Living a few weeks ago.. 

Cinnamon? What's the difference? Make sure you download the cinnamon information! 

Here are the recipes.

Apple Cinnamon Rum Punch

Old Fashion Holiday Christmas Candy

I messed up the chocolate cookie recipe yesterday.. Here is the revised version.. I forgot the 2 cups of granulated sugar. Chocolate Cookie Recipe Revised

Two Products today.. LorAnn Cinnamon Oil. You need to always use oil in candy making.. It does not disipate and with a few drops you get a rich flavor. LorAnn products are known for quality and the best for candy making!

Second Product is very important. a thermometer.. Those candy ones from Taylor were good for the time.. Now I suggest an instead read meat thermometer. It has two uses. One for meat where you place the probe into the meat and program the alarm with the exact temperature. Then the alarm goes off when it hits.. same as the boiling candy syrup.. no guessing as to what the degrees are like the old fashion kind. 

 

Day 1: Holiday Time!!! Chocolate is the Word! /  by George Geary

It's time for the Twelve Days of Holiday Sweetness! This year I am doing a few things different. 1. I am also going to be highlighting a product that I feel is the BEST to use for the recipe. 2. Every day of the twelve days are "themed". Today's theme is Chocolate! 3. I am adding a drink recipe! All drink recipes there will be two versions. Adult and Kid-Friendly! .. And we will have a few contests during the run! 

Day 1: Chocolate

Recipes:

Hot Truffle Chocolate

Chocolate Fudge Butter Cookies  (revised)  Tomorrow... Cinnamon! 

 

Half "Bun" Baking Sheets.. First the origin of the name.. A full sheet is standard for bakeries. These pans are mainly to make yeast buns and these are half the size.. thus.. Half Bun Pans! If you have been at one of my classes you will always see me use these trays for prepping and also for baking cookies. Sheets of Parchment Paper ft perfectly. They will not warp, they are affordable to order at least 6! So you can have your cookies cool completely on the cookie trays. Many cookie cookbook authors only like sheets with two sides that are flat like the sheet. Its been told that the air-flow of the oven will not be even with all four sides like these cookie trays.. I say.. Bologna! If the heat in your oven can not go over 1/2-inch then you have more problems with regulation then with baking of your cookies.